[1] Amidst rumors of political infighting with Chongqing Communist Party secretary Bo Xilai, Wang arranged a meeting on 6 February at the US consulate in Chengdu, where he remained for over 30 hours.
He then left the consulate of his own volition and was taken to Beijing by agents and the vice minister Qiu Jin (邱进) of the Ministry of State Security.
In the scandal's aftermath, Bo was dismissed from his position of Chongqing party chief, removed from the Politburo, and eventually charged with corruption and abuse of power.
Wang's predecessor as director of the Teiling public security department, Gu Fengjie, has reportedly been detained pending investigation on corruption charges.
[6] [7] According to later transcripts from court proceedings describing the events, sometime in November 2011, Bo's wife Gu Kailai and one of her associates had murdered British businessman Neil Heywood.
[8] Wang apparently was displeased with Gu's suppression of evidence, believing that it would arouse unnecessary attention and create bigger problems.
Sensing that this was essentially a move to gag these individuals and further fearing that his own career was at stake, Wang attempted to contact the regional British consulate to provide evidence related to the alleged murder of Neil Heywood.
[11] Although details are sparse, observers believe that Wang may have sought leniency with the Inspection Commission in exchange for information on corruption and embezzlement by Bo Xilai and/or his wife.
[1] Overseas Chinese-language dissident website Boxun alleged that Wang brought evidence incriminating Bo Xilai to the meeting at the consulate.
[19] Central authorities dispatched Qiu Jin, vice minister of State Security, to escort Wang to Beijing on a first-class flight.
[19][20][21] On 9 February, several overseas Chinese-language websites posted an open letter allegedly written by Wang[22] accusing Bo of corruption and harboring criminal connections.
The letter, apparently secretly sent to friends overseas prior to his forced leave, referred to Bo as "the greatest gangster in China."
"[27] As the chain of events unfolded Chinese government censors began blocking keywords on an ad hoc basis, such as "U.S. Consulate", "political asylum", "Governor Bo" etc.
The mixed reactions from the authorities led to speculation that the government was unsure about how to deal with the events, or that they were letting word spread deliberately to weaken Bo's political base.
[27] Gao Wenqian, senior analyst with Human Rights in China, wrote that the event served to discredit the "core socialist values" promoted by Bo Xilai through the "red culture movement" in Chongqing.
"Its repercussion is comparable to that of the Lin Biao Incident in the late 1970s, which led to the demise of the Cultural Revolution and the mythology surrounding Mao Zedong", wrote Gao.
However, the rumors of a coup were proven false, although the allegations underscored the tensions between the economic reformist and Maoist traditionalist factions of the Communist Party regarding the political crisis.